the shop that wants to order it may be unable to get a loan for its inventory, therefore, the instrument never gets shipped. or the customer who may want to buy this guitar may find his money is now worth so little, he can't afford it. and if this drought in the revenue stream continues, pushing more businesses and more governments towards default on their debt, then there's a risk of the whole market drying up. so everyone knows each time a shipment arrives in europe like this one, unpredictable market forces here could undermine the value of those guitars and force layoffs back home. >> the last few years, just thinking about the economy in general, it's kind of a generalized fear. >> reporter: for now, they control what they can. >> if we do a better job when somebody's looking to buy a guitar, they'll look more to our stuff than the other stuff, over time. >> reporter: and they just hope

economic waves from europe don't come crashing against american shores. tom forman, cnn, stevensville, maryland. that's it for us, thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. sick day friday. doctors struggle to control a fierce flu outbreak spreading through offices and job sites. hero in the classroom this teacher is one of two staffers who stared down the barrel of a shotgun and talked a school shooter into giving up. and this size says it all. severe storms leave parts of one southern state completely unwater. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john bermman. >> it is friday, i'm zoraida sambolin. it's friday, january 11th.

up first, the fast-spreading flu now officially an epidemic. the flu season has come early, hit really hard. nearly two dozen children have died. widespread activity reported in more than 40 states as well. boston's mayor just declared a citywide emergency because of the flu. and now a leading health official acknowledging the outbreak has reached a new level. >> if you look at the charts that the cdc put out on their website, it clearly has gone above that threshold. we are into what would classically be described as a flu epidemic. >> senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is live in ft. worth, texas, with what may be some good news. she has an early read on the new flu numbers that we're getting. elizabeth, what have you learned? >> the cdc every friday release the new flu numbers. i got an early look at them. as you said a little bit of good news. the flu activity in this country

has gone down a bit. two weeks ago we were talking about 29 states having high levels of flu activity. now we're talking about 24 states having high level of flu activity. that is good news. now i want to talk about the numbers in a sightly different way. this gets confusing, so bear with me. we're seeing less flu in the united states, but it is spread out more. geographically it has spread out to more locations. so, to put that in terms of numbers, two weeks ago, 41 states were seeing widespread activity, meaning it was throughout various regions of their state. now 47 states say they're seeing flu in various regions of their state. so spread out more, but the actual number of people who are having flu symptoms has actually gone down. >> so that's good news. >> it is good news. so this is the way flu goes. the numbers go up, then you often see that they start to

sort of hit a peak, and then they start to come down. we don't know if we hit the peak yet, and it's different in different parts of the country. in the southeast, where everything sort of started, where the numbers started getting bigger earlier, we are seeing some of those numbers come down now. that's good for people in the southeast. they experienced it earliest and now the numbers are going down earlier than other regions of the country. >> i think over here we're experiencing it late. they're dropping like flies around here. you're in ft. worth, texas, where you spent the day yesterday with a little boy with the flu in the hospital. how is he doing this morning? >> he's doing much better. i wanted to talk to his mom. this was a little boy who was sick, like you have kids. kids get sick. but then he started getting sicker. this mom took action quickly. so he's just adorable. his name is darius carr. let's listen to what his mother had to tell us yesterday. >> did you know that flu could

make a kid so sick so fast? >> no, i didn't. not at all. i do now. i did not then. that was real scary. like i told you, 30 minutes to an hour, he took a turn for the worst. right in front of me. >> so, in the course of 30 minutes to an hour he went from being sort of a sick kid to being a kid who was having trouble breathing, he didn't even recognize his own mother. he became so delirious. >> my goodness. >> i know, can you imagine? that is the message your kid can get very sick, very fast with the flu. this child has asthma, so even worse for him. but it can happen any child. >> we wish him well. thank you. next hour at 6:30 eastern, we'll talk about the flu epidemic with the direct every of t director of the national institutes of health. >> pretty much everyone i know is sick right now. this is everywhere. >> i will ask the doctor how do

you know if it's the flu? we have a lot of people sick around here. is it the flu? do you not have the flu? >> wash your hands and take care of yourselves. four minutes after the hour. james holmes will be tried for murder in the colorado movie theater rampage. that decision from the judge who presided over his three-day evidence hearing this week. holmes will be arraigned today on 166 counts of first degree murder and other charges. he's accused of opening fire ensie inside an aurora, colorado theater killing 12. a 16-year-old who opened fire critically wounding a classmate at his bakers field, california high school claims he was bullied. investigators say he shot two boys and shot again but missed. the kern county sheriffs are saying he also had a hit list.

the sheriffs also say a teacher and a counselor deserve high praise for talking the gunman down. >> this teacher and this counselor stood there face to face, not knowing whether he's going to turn that shotgun on them and -- because they have seen the news media throughout our country the last several months. they probably expected the worst, hoped for the best, but they gave their students a chance to escape and it worked. >> the suspect will be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder. it will be up to prosecutors to decide if he will be charged as an adult. this is happening as joe biden's federal task force on curbing gun violence begins to take action. the vice president announcing he will make recommendations to president obama by tuesday. we will take you live to washington in just a few minutes. a live report from white house correspondent dan lothian on the latest developments on this issue. severe storms, including three tornado touchdowns, leave

parts of louisiana under water. in one town, eunice, has been drenched with over a foot of rain in three days. seven parishes have widespread flooding prompting governor bobby jindal to declare a state of emergency there. it has been an awful week for boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft. one of the most advanced planes ever. two more mishaps on separate flights in japan today. a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak. this fires a fire, fuel spill and brake problems. the faa is set to announce a comprehensive review of the dream leaner. and this year mlb will conduct tests on players for

hgh. >> the in-season hgh drug test is a huge concession from the players a serious advance in drug testing in baseball. it's interesting to see if the other sports follow suit. >> i think it's great. >> agree. eight minutes after the hour. and jack lew, what an interesting signature this man has. if jack lew, president obama's nominee for treasury secretary gets the gig this scribble may be on all of your money. lew may have the most illegible signature of all time. look at it. it's nothing but a doodle. like nine loops in a row. >> that is something my 2-year-old would do. >> on treasury secretary. yesterday president obama assured the world that the american dollar is, in fact, safe. >> i had never noticed jack's

signature. and when this was highlighted yesterday in the press, i considered rescinding my offer to appoint him. jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one lett lett letter legible, should he be confirmed as secretary of treasury. >> this is what his signature would actually look like on the dollar bill. that's just awful. >> is it third grade when they focus on your handwriting skills and penmanship? maybe he can sit in on a class. >> the treasury secretary wants to audit your class. nine minutes past the hour. yesterday we brought you the life or death drama of these whales trapped by ice. today, my gosh, i was over the moon when i heard the update on this. we have such good news to share. obviously you know what it is. but we'll share more details

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vice president joe biden's gun control task force will deliver its recommendation to president obama by tuesday, that's fast. yesterday the vice president met with representatives on various sides of the issue. the former head of a movie industry group argued that movies don't cause violence. white house correspondent dan lothian is following all these developments. dan, the vice president said he saw emerging consensus in some areas here. the nra said they were disappointed what is really going on here? >> that's right. that's essentially what we expected, the nra saying they wanted to come and listen to what the administration is talking about, but certainly the administration is looking for some tough guidelines here, to

prevent violence in the future. so, some of the things that the vice president says has been emerging from the discussion. he pointed out these are not his recommendations, but what he's hearing from all of these meetings is, at the top of the list, universal background checks. not closing loopholes at sales, but universal background checks, and a ban on high capacity ammunition clips. these are two things that the vice president says has been emerging at the top of the list from the discussions he has been holding. but the nra obviously pushing back on this. clearly disappointed. disappointed, they said, by how these meetings have less to do with protecting the children and more to do with "the agenda, the attack on the second amendment, while claiming no policy proposals would be prejudged this task force spent most of its time on proposed

restrictions on lawful firearms, tax paying americans. some are asking can there be common ground? the nra is saying that will be difficult. >> is there common ground? >> there isn't on guns, except in one area. we have for years urged that those who have been ajudjudicat as potentially violentlily ill should be included on the list of those who can't buy firearms. >> we have been talking about the high capacity firearms, and those did not come up yesterday. >> the hints the vice president has been dropping day by day have been fascinating. yesterday he met with movie

industry types, yesterday it's representatives from the video game industry. any idea of the solutions or ideas he wants to hear from them? >> what the vice president is trying to do is get at the root of the problem. are these video games or movies out there leading kids, young people, adults to commit violent acts? so, that is the question that he's trying to get at. but there's push back from hollywood saying, you know, essentially they are taking steps to make sure that young people are not getting in to see these kinds of movies, violent movies, are not getting in or playing with some of these violent games. take a listen or look at what one person from the motion picture association, the former chairman of the motion picture so association said. i don't think the abundance of movies that are put out by the entertainment industry are violent or cause violence. hollywood does a pretty good job of letting parents know through

its rating system, what kind of movie is coming out, whether there's violence or sexual conduct or other types of things. so hollywood pushing back saying they're doing a good job of safeguarding keeping kids out of these movies. these are some things they'll have to figure out as they have these discussions. >> dan lothian live for us in washington. again, the vice president's recommendations coming next tuesday which is really lightning fast by washington standards. >> it is. it's time to get you up to date. christine romans with our top stories. nasty flu bug spreading across the country reaching now epidemic levels according to one of the nation's leading disease fighters, but cnn's elizabeth cohen is learning the flu is falling off in some places where it started. the latest numbers do yue out t morning show 21 levels with high levels, compared with 29 states with high levels the week before. good news for some parents

wanting to adopt russian children. a law banning americans from adopting russian children will not be put into place for one year. that means some adoptions can proceed now, giving families so close new hope. a happy update to a story we've been following, those dozen killer whales stuck under sea ice sharing one shrinking breathing hole. they have escaped into canada's hudson bay. winds reportedly shifted overnight moving the ice away from the coast and opening up the water. had that breathing hole frozen over, these whales would have died likely. that's such good news. they were taking turns coming up for air on this shrinking hole. >> was awful to watch. >> mother nature took over there. they were trying -- they were trying for a manmade solution. but you're not so optimistic, are you? >> right now, it allows the whales to swim away. but they lost track of them.

if it does freeze over again, there's no telling where they might be. >> i hope they swam far, far away and they're fine now. >> me, too. >> i would rather believe that. time for your early reads, your local news making national headlines. first reporting for duty. in the state of south carolina, look at this, tears, hugs and good-byes as governor nicki haley's husband leaves for a year-long deployment in afghanistan. he left with the other 46 members of his south carolina national guard unit. he's a captain. in a statement the governor wrote we are a proud military family who understands the sacrifices any family goes through when a loved one is serving his or her country. we will miss him while he's away. he will be helping in afghanistan with agriculture and farming. >> she understands, though, right, the suffering families go through. in the indianapolis star, a missing boy found 19 years after his grandparents kidnapped him.

richard was just 5 years old when he disappeared. this was after a custody dispute. landers who is now 24 and married, was found in minnesota thanks in part to his social security number. the grandparents were found in a nearby town under aliases. police are not saying if they will face charges. the original charges were dropped back in 2008. his mom and dad, i think it's a stepmother, say they have not seen him yet or talked to him yet but they plan on doing so. >> can you imagine? so many years. 20 minutes after the hour. it is an anxious friday if you work on wall street. mass layoffs in the work for some leading financial firms. ... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans.

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we are minding your business. u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. >> yesterday marked a milestone. >> it did, a five-year high the s & p 500.

the highest close since december of 2007. >> what could possibly go wrong. >> right. this morning we're hearing japan is embarking on a stimulus to keep its economy afloat and to put juice into its economy. so watching the world markets because of that. watching closer to home on wall street, some nervous bankers this morning, wall street has been shrinking over the five years. i showed you that chart. shrinking in the wake of the financial crisis and continues to do so. earlier this week, we heard from morgan stanley, cnn money sources saying that morgan stanley was going to have 1,600 layoffs. american express yesterday announcing 5,400 layoffs. and citigroup in the midst of 11,000 job cuts. the reason why wall street is concerned, the morgan stanley job cuts in particular, those are higher up the food chain, managing directors, maybe fewer,

that's the whoholy grail of wal street jobs. >> over the last few weeks, christine, you have been watching gun stocks closely. >> yeah. another down day for the gun stocks. losses for ruger, about 3% over two days. smith & wesson down 6%. it's because of the traction in washington about gun talk, good violence talks, and what the vice presidential forum could come up with. walmart actually not very pleased that we're not making more of a deal about how vice president biden is not meeting directly with walmart, it's the attorney general eric holder. after all that to and fro about how walmart wouldn't be able to fix the scheduling delay to meet with the vice president, now it's eric holder meeting with the vice president. walmart is like you're not making a big doeal of that? gun violence survivors are

planning a big rally for tuesday at a connecticut walmart to push them to stop selling the ar-15 weapon that is like the one used in the connecticut shooting. survivors saying they don't want walmart to sell that gun. people who know walmart and cover the company say it's about making money. walmart does things that make money. as long as the pr is not as bad as -- doesn't hurt sales, there probably won't be changes. that's what observers of walmart say. >> thank you. it is 26 minutes past the hour. coming up, the gun stunt that caused a police lockdown in the northwest. plus red dawn down under. take a look at that. the story behind this menacing cloud coming up. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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hospitals swamped with a serious flu outbreak in full swing. we have the early word on what doctors and the cdc plan to say about it later today. vacation tragedy, americans among the dead after a resort hotel in the pacific goes up in flames. a daring demonstration. two men throwing it down in the street with assault rifles in broad daylight. s they were trying to prove a point. good morning, i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. leading health officials saying the flu is spiking across the

country. it's now an epidemic. there is widespread flu activity in more than 40 states. minnesota reports more than 27 flu-related deaths. hospitals are being swamped with flu patients and vaccine employs are said to be running low in some places. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is live in ft. worth, texas. and you have a very early look at some of the new flu numbers coming out this morning. >> right. new flu numbers come out every friday. i got an early look last night. there is a bit of good news here. when you look at levels of flu activity two weeks ago 29 states had high levels of flu activity. now we're talking about 24 states having high levels. that's five fewer states showing high levels of flu activity. now, people are continuing to get sick and die. for example, for kids, instead of 18 pediatric flu deaths, we

now have 20. that number did go up a bit. i want to talk about the numbers in a slightly different way, it's a little bit confusing. epidemiology 101. but bear with me, we can explain it. while the levels of flu activity, the amount of flu has gone down, it is more spread out across the country. there are more regions of the country, more regions within each state that are seeing flu. so, you mentioned that 41 number. 41 states were seeing widespread activity, meaning activity spread throughout various regions of the state. now that's 47. so the numbers there went from 41 states to 47 states. that doesn't say there's more flu out there. that just says it has reached more regions within these states. so, in other words, good news here is that there does seem to be lower levels of flu in this country. not much, but a little bit lower. >> is it because those states

have reached some kind of tipping point? >> yes, it's believed in the south and southeast, the epidemic, the flu started earlier, earliest there back in november. so flu does a curve like this. if you start early that means your number also start to come down earlier. now, we will wait for the weeks to come to see if the numbers keep going down. but this is a very expected development. flu numbers get higher and higher, then they start to come down. >> elizabeth cohen for us live this morning, thank you very much. next hour at 6:30 eastern, we will talk about the flu epidemic with dr. anthony fauch from the national institutes of health. >> this is totally unscientific, i think we're reaching our peak in the room here. some americans are believed to be among the dead in a hotel fire in the northern philippines. look at this. it's the dryden hotel in

olongapo city. six people died of smoke inhalation including two americans. the fire destroyed seven rooms, some offices a communications center and a computer room. investigators are trying to nail down a cause, but initial signs say it may have been an electrical fire. a judge in chicago could decide today if a lottery winner's body should be exhumed. urooj khan died suddenly after he won a million dollar jackpot. at first it was thought natural causes, but then cyanide was found in his system. a dire warning from leon panetta about the pentagon's budget. he said the military is being forced to prepare for the worse due to the threat of severe budget cuts that are set to kick in on march 1st. this is a result of the fiscal cliff negotiations which failed to end the process known as sequestration.

he said it's threatening the pentagon's ability to defend the nation. >> all told, this uncertainty, if left unresolved by the congress, will seriously harm our military readiness. >> panetta said he is being forced to curtail facility maintenance for non-critical activities, to freeze the hiring of civilians and take additional cost-cutti inting measures. a report by the justice department reveals more light on the secret service escort problem last year. overall nine secret service agents implicated in dealing with prostitutes resigned or retired from the service. we could learn today if officials in washington, d.c. will bring charges against nbc. david gregory used a high

capacity gun magazine as a prop last month during an interview duri daught with an nra member. it is not every day you see this, people walking down the street with assault rifles strapped to their backs, but these two say they have a right to carry their weapons. they were hoping people would engage them in conversation. >> we're not threatening anyone. we don't have that kind of criminal behavior. this happens to open that line of communication to let people know you can defend yourself at a time of crisis or any time you want to. >> portland police say the men didn't break the law. they hold valid gun licenses, even thouso they scared a lot o people. even gun owners thought they went too far. >> just to prove a point to open

carry and freak a bunch of people out, it's not necessary. >> as one local business owner said if you're scaring people, you're probably not advancing your cause. >> my goodness. not to machine shention that co had a bad outcome as well. some turbulence expected today for boeing. why it's dreamliner jet has drawn some attention from the faa. and what is the deal with this red dust cloud?th 's small s earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics. put it on my spark card. ow. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve great rewards. [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? [ cheers and applause ]

top of the morning to you, atlanta. this is hartsfield-jackson atlanta international airport. my goodness, berman, it is 63 degrees there right now later, 72. let's hop on the plane and head over. very nice. good morning to you. welcome back to "early start." it's been a week the people at boeing would rather forget. two more incidents overnight on separate flights of a dreamliner

787 in japan involving a cracked cockpit windshield and an oil leak. it comes on the heels of the dreamliner this week, a fuel spill, an electrical fire and brake problems. now there are reports that the faa will review the dreamliner's power system. cnn's renee marsh is joining us live from washington. this is an alarming pattern of incidents that have occurred overnight and this week. can you walk us through what happened? >> you mentioned it. it is just troubling for boeing there. this is not the day or week you want to have. we're talking about three incidents over a period of three days. you mentioned monday there was a fire that broke out in the belly of one of the 787s on the tarmac there at logan airport in boston. the result of a battery, a l

litheon ion battery that blew up. on tuesday, we got word of an oil leak at logan, where one of the valves was open causing the leak of fuel. on wednesday, we heard about brake problems with one of the 787 dreamliners. so that's not what you want to hear. then this morning we are learning of two more incidents involving two more dreamliner jets here. a crack in a cockpit window, which is not uncommon in passenger jets. that was discovered on an al nippon airways jet from tokyo to japan. also this morning an oil leak was discovered from a generator that was placed in the left engine of another al nippon airways flight. both flights landed safely in japan. now the total, five incidents in just as many days. not a good week for the folks there at boeing. >> i would say it's not. i want to be clear there were no

injuries in any of those incidents? >> no injuries in any of the incidents this week. that fire that broke out which is being deemed one of the more serious incidents, no one was on the plane at the time. >> we're hearing reports that the faa will have a special review of the dreamliner starting today. >> we know that bloomberg is reporting that the faa will look at the jet's design and manufacturing. other reports are suggesting that the jet's power system will be scrutinized. this would come days after that fire. we did reach out to boeing. we did get a statement from a spokesperson. they did say in part "we actively work with the faa daily across all of our product lines." they went on to say we're confident in the reliability and performance of the 787. so they are standing by their

product despite these issues. boeing all along saying these are just simply growing pains. these are the kinds of issues that people see when they launch a new jet program. they are very confident about the performance of the dreamliner. >> we are looking forward to hearing from them. rene marsh, thank you. air travel in 2012 was the safest since 1945. it was interesting, the world's safest airlines was also reported. the top 20, we didn't make the cut. 21 was southwest airlines at number 21. >> interesting. >> the 787 story is a business story about this big investment boeing made in this new aircraft and it is taking a while to get it up to speed. you have to look at these pictures. these look like something the mars rover would send back. but it's not mars, it's australia. a huge red wall of dust towered

off the coast of australia. meteorologists say a storm picked up tremendous amounts of sand and dust and passed it over land. a cyclone several hundred miles away has caused this. >> i wonder if that would be considered a haboob. closer to home we have weather of our own, from flooding rain to a foot of snow. meteorologist alexander steel is here with more. do you know if they have haboobs in australia? >> i had to look at those pictures for authenticity yesterd yesterday. we have 12 inches of rain and 12 inches of snow, so a myriad of weather happening around the country. this is the last three days. every day i've been showing you this inundation of water into louisiana. 6 to 12 inches, even more than 12 in some. also three reported tornadoes in louisiana. this is the estimated rain we've seen.

look at the damage we've seen. first tornado, 5:30 yesterday morning, st. martin's parish. about 50 homes damaged. the second one near new iberia, and the third in plaquemines parish yesterday. still some rain coming into new orleans, but not that monster swath, that has cincinnati, close to 60 degrees. temperatures are 20 degrees above average, which is why we're not seeing snow. atlanta in the 70s for the next couple of days, we should be at 52. d.c. at 66. where there's the ying, there's the yang. on the west coast, blizzard

warning and ice storm warning. in montana and the dakotas the potential for blizzard conditions. keeping an eye on that through saturday and sunday. >> alexander steel, thank. coming up, look at this, a wild brawl at a school bus stop. and high anxiety, some hikers involved in a hair-raising rescue. [ woman ] uh-oh.

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49 minutes after the hour. let's look at some news happening around the world. >> the top story is the flu still. a national sick-out. flu has reached epidemic proportions according to a leading health professional. widespread activity in 47 states. the flu outbreak swamped hospitals and clinics in new york city. emergency room visits are up 150% over last year this time. vice president joe biden's gun control task force will deliver recommendations to president obama by tuesday. today he meets with representatives of the video game industry. he already met with people on various sides of the issue. the head of the movie game industry said movies don't cause violence, and the nra called it an agenda to attack the second amendment. planned parenthood goes to texas today to fight for funding. the state kicked it out of its women's health program and a new law says texas doesn't have to spend tax dollars on women's

health clinics linked to abortion providers. planned parenthood is hoping a federal judge will intervene. this disturbing video shot at a school bus stop near pittsburgh. police say dozens of people, students as well as parents, were part of this brawl. there was another fight earlier in the week near the very same spot. a school bus stop. several adults and minors were arrested. not clear why they're fighting. police beefed up patrols in that area. firefighters rescued two injured hikers stranded in a canyon outside denver. apparently they left the trail, got lost and broke bones in the process. they used a cell phone and that helped rescuers find them. >> it's so much safer to watch tv. >> looks beautiful. >> on tv. >> i'm glad they're safe. >> thank you. 51 minutes past the hour. packed hour ahead on "early

start," including one of the government's top health officials saying this year's flu outbreak has reached epidemic levels. as many as 50,000 people may die from the flu according to the cdc. we will talk to one of the top disease fighters in the country ahead. twisted metal, broken glass and a bruised shoulder. a thief tries to literally knock over an atm machine. that's really smart. he learns a painful lesson. >> first, would you like fries with that ghost driver? >> hello? what the heck is going on? >> oh. punked at the drive-thru. watch people freak out when an invisible man pulls up. 2% cash k on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card!

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. welcome back. 55 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman, this is zoraida sambolin. we're looking at the top cnn trends >> the nominees aren't. the twitter reacting with total outrage at oscar numbers like katherine big low for "zero dark thirty" and ben affleck for "argo." this tweet says you know ben affleck invited kathryn bigelow to cry. and this one says drink every time you read the word snubbed today. >> ben was robbed. >> i think everybody agrees. >> the invisible man gets a big

mac attack. this may be the best prank ever. an aspiring magician created a driver seat costume that makes it appear as if no one is in the car. so he puts it on and goes through a bunch of fast food drive-thrus, and he recorded the whole thing. you can check out the stunned, freaked out employees. watc watch. >> hello. what the heck is going on? oh, my god. oh, my god. i can't. >> that's awesome. >> really? hello?

are you serious? >> that is great. the magician -- >> watch out for him. that's creative. >> hilarious. >> check out this and all the other top cnn trends at cnn.com/trends. >> that was a good laugh. >> worth checking out. so treasury nominee jack lew's loopy handwriting good for some late night laughs. check this out. >> president obama today nominated jack lew to be the next secretary of the treasury. the secretary of the treasury has his signature go on the right side of the bill. this is jack lew's signature. it's either the signature or the migratory pattern of a house fly. before he was chief of staff at the white house, mr. lew worked at hostess as a cupcake icer.

if he is confirmed by the senate, his signature will be on all newly printed u.s. bills. it's about time our bills look like they're signed by a roomba. >> that's your signature? or are you just testing to see if the pen works? hey, lew, here's a tip, stop signing all your checks on the teacup ride at disney world. the only way you're allowed to have that as your signature is if you're name is boing-boing-boing. >> our future treasury secretary. >> i hope he has a good sense of humor. >> he betterme mbetter.

"early start" sta "early start" continues right now. sick day friday. doctors struggle to control a fierce flu outbreak spreading through offices and job sites. a school shooter into giving up. quite a hero this morning. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." we're happy are you with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. 6:00 a.m. in the east. we hope are you okay. because pretty much everyone we singh sick. a severe flu strain spreading fast and furious across the country. nearly two dozen children have died and widespread activity reported in more than 40 states. all hands on deck in boston, where the mayor has declared a city-wide emergency because of the flu. and a leading health official acknowledging the outbreak has reached a new level. >> if you look at the charts that the cdc put out on their website, it clearly has gone above that threshold. so we are into what would classically be described as a flu epidemic. >> that sounds all bad. but we're joined by senior medical correspondent elizabeth

cohen, live in ft. worth, texas. has what may be good news. you have an early look at the brand new flu numbers out this morning. >> john, that's right. every morning the centers for disease control come up with new flu numbers. i got an early peek last night. take a look at this in the last report, 29 states reporting high levels of flu activity. lots of flu. however, in the newest report, 24 states are showing high levels of flu activity. so that's five fewer states. we are seeing,more illnesses and deaths. there were 18 pediatric deaths, 2 more, now there are 20 deaths. john. >> fewer states where there are high levels. does it mean it's getting better there? >> right. especially in the southeast region. in the southeast region, you are seeing in parts of it the

numbers are going down. the reason? that's where the epidemic started. that's where they saw it started. >> are you in ft. worth. you spent the day with a family of a little boy in the hospital with the flu. how is he doing? >> you know what? he's doing so much better, and, john, i tell you, i wanted to visit this little boy. his mother was a great empowered patient who did what parents should do when he had the flu. she knew he the flu, knew he had asthma, and she was watching him. you should watch even if they don't have asthma. things can get bad. all of a sudden, he started having trouble breathing, started to become delerruous. he didn't recognize his own mother, and she got him care quickly. let's see what she said. did you know flu could make a kid so sick so fast?

>> i do now, but not then. 30 minutes, he took a turn for the worse, right in front of me. >> most kids when they get the flu, they do just fine. parents, i urge you, keep your eye on your child. if your child acts more lethargic, not quite him or herself, talk to a doctor. see if you need to go in. >> parents are the first line of defense here. no question about that. >> that's right. that's right. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks a lot. coming up at 6:30 eastern, we'll talk about the flu with dr. anthony fauci with the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases at the national institute of health. decision is in. james holmes will, in fact, be tried for murder in the colorado movie rampage. that ruling from the judge who presided over his three-day evidence hearing this week. holmes will be arraigned today on 166 count of first-degree murder and other charges. accused of opening fire in an aurora, colorado, theater.

the murder charges could carry the death penalty. a 15-year-old who opened fire at his bakersfield high school claims he was bullied. he was targeting two boys. he shot a second round as student cleared out yesterday, but missed. kaernz county scherheriff is investigating a list. ryan hlebber and kim lee fields deserve high praise for taking the gunman down. >> this teacher and this counselor stood there, face to face, not knowing whether he's going to turn that shotgun on them, and because they've seen the news media throughout our country in the last several months and they probably expected the worst and hoped for the best, but they gave their students a chance to escape and conversed, and it worked. >> the suspect will be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder. it will be up to prosecutors to decide if he will be charged as an adult.

these developments happening as vice president joe biden's federal task force on curbing gun violence begins to take action. biden will make recommendations to president obama by tuesday. we will take you to washington live in a few minutes. we'll hear from white house correspondent dan lothian, coming up. severe storms, including three tornado touchdowns leave parts of louisiana underwater. one town, eunice, in southwestern, louisiana, drenched with more than a foot of rain over three days. seven parishes have widespread flooding, prompting bobby jindal to declare a state of emergency. more rain forecast this weekend. major league baseball out front on testing for human growth hormone. in-season blood test willing begin during the 2013 season. that announcement, a day after a star-studded but checkered class of candidates was shut out entirely by the hall of fame. barry bonds, roger clemens, sammy sosa, rejected because of

links to steroid abuse. >> baseball had this in the works for a while. announced it yesterday after the fall of fame thing. >> the players on board. >> the union signed on. i don't think the players love the idea, but they will do it it's a huge step in drug testing, not just in baseball, but maybe a first step for all sports. six minutes after the hour. a very happy update to a story we've been following. those killer whales stuck under sea ice and sharing one breathing hole have escaped into hudson bay. winds shifted overnight and pushed floating ice away from the coast and opened up the waters so the whales could get out. had the breathing hole frozen over, the whales would have likely died. >> people were predicting this was certain death for them. it's happy that mother nature took over.

>> they don't know where the whales are right now if it freezes over again fast, it isn't certain what will happen to them. for now at least -- >> we'll end on a happy ending. 6 minutes past the hour. mystery solved after two decades. a young boy who vanished all those years ago, found alive and well. plus, a would-be thief who learned the hard way. crime doesn't pay. more of what a surveillance camera captured. that, coming up. officemax can help you drive supply costs... down... ...and down. just use your maxperks card and get a case of x-9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet.

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block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. welcome back. 10 minutes after the hour. vice president biden's gun task force will deliver a report to president obama by tuesday. the former head of a movie industry group argued movies don't cause violence. the nra stepped away from the discussion, criticizing the fork discuss calling it an attack on the second amendment. dan lothian following all of the developments for us. good morning to you, dan. so the vice president said that

he saw emerging consensus in some areas of gun relations, but the nra said they were disappointed with that meeting yesterday. tell us what happened? >> that's right. again, the vice president pointing out these are not his suggestions, but things that he has been hearing, recommendations that have been coming in from all of the officials that he has been meeting with over the last few days. and the things that are rising to the top of that list total universal background checks, so this would include private sales of weapons, banning high capacity ammunition clips, something we've been talking about for quite a few days now. and also the vice president talked about the need for more federal research into gun violence, having access to more information. believing that with that they might be able to prevent some of the violence you see happening across the country. but some harsh criticism from the nra, saying talk has less to do with protecting children and more to do with an attack on the

second amendment. listen to what the president of the nra had to say. >> the vice president had said we would do this with an open mind, but at the meeting, he said, no, we've made up our mind. no, there won't be an agreement on that in a sense, they were checking a box. saying we've met with the nra, met with the people who are strong second amendment supporters. >> sfwlor aid zoraida, we did n talk about support for a reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons. white house aides saying the president, the vice president, still support that, but perhaps this is a recognition that this would be difficult to get through congress and so they are looking at other elements that might be easier to get bipartisan support. >> and yesterday biden met with entertainment industry officials. today he will meet with the video game industry. what kind of solutions he seeking from that industry? >> you know, he hecasn't laid o

anything specifically, but he is trying to get to the root of the problem. are these video games contributing to what we're seeing out there. he is getting pushback from hollywood. saying in part "i don't think the abundance of movies put out by the entertainment industry are that violent or cause violence. hollywoods s ddoes a good job letting parents know through ratings what kind of movie is coming out, whether there is violence or sexual conduct or other kinds of things." everyone realizes this is a difficult problem, but it's hard to figure out what are the right kind of solutions. the president will send this in by tuesday. a short window of time, but acknowledging there is pressure from the public to act quickly. >> now, absolutely. i think the dialog is good, dan. we found a "time" magazine showing that sandy hook video

game shootings blamed again. but video game violence researcher that said that there they don't contribute in even a small way to mass homicides. what does research suggest? dan lothian, live in washington, thank you. >> okay. this just in. a damning report concerning the long time bbc children's host jimmy savile. he was a prolific sexual abuser of children. we turn to matthew chance in london. good morning, matthew. >> good morning, john. that's right. the report which i have in my hand, giving victims a voice, an attempt by the police to get that on record, or the testimony they have received over the last 14 weeks of investigation into the goings on of jimmy savile.

the scale of abuses quite breath taking over more than a 50-year period. 450 complaints have now been reported against him. 214 of those have been recorded as actual abuses. and amongst that 214, we're looking at least 34 rapes over that period. so quite an astonishingly high figure. the age group of people who were abused as well, between the ages of 47 on the upper end and the age of 8 on the lower end. so a huge broad spectrum of ages that people were targeted by jimmy savi lessle. 82% female. they took place in relatively public venues. a major celebrity and fund-raiser for charities, places like hospitals, tv or radio premises, where he undertook broadcasting work and schools, where he was often invited as part of his show,

where he arranged for children to have their wishes come true. and so jimmy savile, the report saying, a prolific abuser of vulnerable people over decades in this country, john. >> the report says he used his celebrity to hide in plain sight. we saw a picture of him with margaret thatcher. this guy, a household name in britain, correct? >> no, i mean, that's right. he wasn't big internationally. i wouldn't be surprised if americans haven't heard of him. but in britain, people of my generation, we grew up with this guy. there was a program called "jimmy fix it." he would make children's dreams come true. it was huge for decades and decades. he also hosted a show called "top of the pops," an influe

influential music show. first deejay on it, last one on it as well. in that last broadcast in 2006, that he carried out one of his last abuses against an underaged girl on that live show. so, again, every opportunity was there, he appears to have taken over a 50-year period. >> matthew chance, thank you so much. the scope of allegations, simply breath taking, thanks, matthew. >> who knew and who didn't tell, right? let's get you up to date with christine romans. >> good morning to both of you. new flu numbers from the cdc due out later. flu activity has actually gone down. officials say 24 states report high levels of flu activity compared with 29 the week before. the numbers have dropped in parts of the south and southeast where the flu outbreak began. we have 47 states with cases of this dangerous flu. afghan president hamid karzai meets with president

obama at the white house. they will discuss america's troop presence in afghanistan in 2014. they held talks over dinner. good news for american couples in the process of adopting russian children. a controversial russian law banning adoptions by americans, signed by president putin last month, will be put into place next year. one more year. it was supposed to take affect this month, that means that some adoptions can proceed giving families who are so, so close new hope. and one dumb criminal has a painful reminder of a robbery gone wrong. check this out. a thief caught on surveillance video ramming into an atm machine at a store in miami-dade, florida, and walking away holding thinks shoulder. this after two crooks tried to pull it out with a chain attached to a car. they failed. they are wanted in another atm robbery earlier in the day. and news flash. the companies that make atm

companies, they know the dumb criminals will try to steal them, so they make them so they don't move. >> that takes the cake. one of the dumbest things we've aired. >> he is working so hard for that money, he should just go work hard for some money. >> very good point, christine. 19 minutes past the hour. time for early reads. local news making national headlines. in "the new york times," mayor bloomberg trying to crack down on prescription drug abuse. the mayor banning all city-run hospital rooms from prescribing more than three days of the most powerful prescription painkil r painkillers. the city health commissioner says more than 47,000 new yorkers are addicted to painkillers and in need of drug treatment. a 5-year-old boy kidnapped in 1994 was found alive, well, and living in minnesota. his grandparents had taken him after a custody dispute with the

boy's parents. richard wayne landers 24 years old and married. a social security card helped track him down. >> because of the custody dispute, wasn't looking good where he was going to be placed and taken away. >> head to our blog. cnn.com/earlystart. follow us on facebook and twitter. search early start cnn. >> if you work on wall street, mass layoffs in the works for leading financial firms. christine with details, coming up. t websites around the world that sell stolen identities? >> 30-year-old american man, excellent credit rating. >> announcer: lifelock monitors thousands of these sites 24 hours a day. and if we discover any of our members' data for sale, lifelock is there with the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. [♪...] [squealing, crash] call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004.

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we're minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. >> yesterday marks a milestone in stocks, christine. >> a five-year high for the s &

p 500. yay, yay. five-year high. glad everybody is loaded up on stocks, oh, that's right we're not. five-year high. highest close since september 2007, up 3.6% over that period. congratulations, you got 3% growth in your stock portfolio over the past five years. i want to talk about concerned on wall street about layoffs, american express, the most recent big, big corporate firm based on wall street to announce layoffs. 5400. travel-focused layoffs here and overseas. earlier this week, we were told morgan stanley will be laying off 1,600. some sources telling cnn money, they will be at the higher end of the food chain. managing directors, or those on the path to become a managing director. citigroup, 11,000 in layoffs. yesterday in terms of gun stocks, down again. second day in a row we've seen gun stocks come down.

you know why. in washington, they are talking about ways to prevent gun violence. and some discussions mean limits on guns. that hurts gunmakers, but still up very, very big over the past year. that last year a very good year for gun sales. a very brisk year for background checks, one proxy for trying to find out -- we don't track gun sales in america. we just track the fbi background checks, kind of a proxy for what sales are. walmart also wanting it to be known that after they decided to meet with the vice president's task force, they didn't meet with the vice president. instead, eric holder, who you see on the screen there, and after their change of calendar to meet with the vice president, the vice president didn't actually meet with them. it was eric holder, and walmart wanting to get on the record that they were not pleased about that change. we gave them such a kind of hard time. >> hard time? >> about not coming to the meetings and they met with the

attorney general. seventh in line, and the vice president first in line. i guess it's a pecking order. >> it's not like he's an intern. >> quite frankly, some say the reason the retailers were working with the attorney general, legal issues, background checks, restrictions on ammo, waiting periods, the like. that drama continues. a gun violence group planning next week a big protest at a walmart in connecticut. they would like walmart to stole selling the ar-15 style weapon. >> what is the one thing we need to know about our money? >> recent graduates, new evidence that you will be paid a little bit more. starting salaries rose 3.4% for new college graduates in 2012, from the national association of colleges. brand new numbers on the range of salaries, for humanities and social sciences jobs, starting stallry, $37,000. john is laughing and giggling.

$62,000 for engineers. choose your major wisely. but the good news here is that graduate salaries are rising and a little easier to get a job this year than last year. >> you need to do a story on that choose your major wisely. >> so hard when are you 18 to choose your major wisely. you're 18. >> you can give parameters and good advice, christine. i'll hold you to that. coming up, look at this. the gun stunt that caused a police lockdown in the northwest. nine years old and an oscar nominee. you will hear from her on what that's like. coming up. ♪ why not make lunch more than just lunch? with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot.

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hospitals swamped. the early word on what the cdc

says about the flu coming up. and a resort hotel in the pacific goes up in flames. americans among the dead. a daring demonstration. two men strolling down the street with assault rifles in broad daylight. doing it just to prove a point. >> what could possibly go wrong there, right? >> welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. 31 minutes past the hour. the top story, the flu outbreak spreading across the nation. take a look at this map. brand new from elizabeth cohen. six more states are reporting widespread activity. that brings the total to 47 states. up from 41 the week before this is a sneak peek at the new cdc numbers that they will reveal later on today. they don't know which states were added, we'll find out later on this morning. and here is a look at individual reports that we've received from the states. minnesota health department says 27 people have died from flu related complications, south carolina reports 22 flu-related deaths this season.

compared to one for all of 2011. pennsyania reporting 22 deaths, 6 people reported dead in illinois. in oklahoma, 8 reported dead. in indiana, 15 reported dead. arkansas, 7 are dead. in massachusetts, 18 flu-related deaths. and also in massachusetts, in sommerville, near boston, all 720 doses of free flu vaccine, supposed to last the entire season, has run out. joining us now is dr. anthony fauci, of the national institutes of health. we are happy are you with us this morning. some of the information confusing to us. we're wondering if it's good news or bad news on some front. can you explain these numbers to us and what we should be concerned about? >> well, this is a dynamic situation when you talk about widespread, are you talking about throughout the united states, and have you high activity or medium activity.

the cdc will be coming out with the latest of the numbers of the epidemiological numbers. what we do know, we are now in as we have known for a few weeks, in a situation flu outbreak that is a significant outbreak. compare it to last year, which is mild. this year as we see from the charts, the number of cases have gone up earlier than in previous years. we started off at the very beginning of december, usually you see this kind of going up at that trajectory in mid to late january. peeks and then goes off into well into february and into march. right now, we have a considerable amount of activity, and from week to week, you may see some modification of it, so i think we should wait until we get the cdc numbers today, and then you could look at the patterns of how they've evolved. clearly, widespread activity through most of the united states. >> the numbers i went through on

the deaths, incredibly alarming, people are concerned here. we talked about it being an epidemic. what does that mean? >> by the very, very strict definition of the cdc, which is really the definition of an epidemic, is the percentage of pneumonia and influenza deaths that occur on a given week in the 52-week year. the epidemic threshold for the year, for week 52, last week in december, is 7.1. at that point, the number, the percentage of death was 7. it doesn't quite reach the strict dwunefinition of epidemi. but it's widespread outbreak and some people, generally from a semantics standpoint, wants to change elm epidemic with outbreak. as of week 52, last week in december, didn't quite make that. it was a percentage -- fraction of a percentage point less.

>> we're calling this the h3n2 virus. how does it compare to other strains of the flu. >> right. >> is this more deadly? >> h3n2 is more serious of the flu strains that circulate. h1n1, cause of the pandemic that we had, we had spillover of that last year. and the 2011-12 winter season was predominantly a very mild season. h3n2, more serious disease. in 2003 and 2004, a season quite similar to what we're seeing now. an early uptick of cases and that is really foreboding of a moderate to severe seasonal influen influenza, which it looks like we're going through right now.

>> drnch f an. fauci, we covere couple of cases. a teenager who died. a very healthy young man, he got the flu, got better, and then he died. and then a little boy in the hospital that elizabeth cohen has been following. are people who are healthy as susceptible as those who are ill? this is unusual. when you see a perfectly healthy young man die from the flu. >> right. that is unusual. generally, perfectly healthy people do not die from influenza, but it does occur. for the most part, when you talk about high-risk individuals, who are more prone to getting the complications, namely, you in mon pneumonia and sometimes death. it's generally the elderly, young children, pregnant women, people with chronic, debilita debilitating diseases and people on certain immunosuppressive drugs, but it's not unheard of

to hear of a perfectly healthy young person die from flu, but it is a rare event. >> are you still recommending people get the flu shot if they have not gotten it. >> it is not too late to get the flu shot. even though we're in january, and in october. and even in september, not too late to get the flu shot. and people who have not gotten the flu shot, and the cdc recommends anybody over six months old should get it, particularly people in situations where they are at high risk for complications. >> dr. ann knthony fauci, thank for your time this morning. i'm going to get a flu shot. coming up on "starting point," we'll talk with dr. sanjay gupta about how you can protect yourself. >> 37 minutes after the hour. some americans believed to be among the dead in a hotel fire in the northern philippines. this happened at the dryden hotel in olangopo city.

the fire destroyed seven rooms, some offices, a communications center and a computer room. officials are trying to nail down a cause. o signs suggest it may be an electrical fire. jr. seau had a brain disease brought on by multiple hits to the heath. that's what national institute of health reports. seau took his own life last may. he suffered from the type of brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. this just continues the questions about concussions and football. a judge in chicago could decide today if a lottery winner's body should be exhumed. 46-year-old urooj khan died. a murder mystery after a deadly

amount of cyanide found in his system. more tests can show him how the poison got into his system. two oregon men chose an odd way to educate people about legally carrying weapons as they claim was their goal. they hoped people would engage them in conversation. instead, frightened residents in portland called 911 when they saw assault weapons strapped to their backs. despite the panic, the men really didn't break the law. they are licensed to carry the weapons. the little film that could, and she's the little actress that did. 9-year-old quvenzhane wallis was nominated for her role as hush puppy in "beasts of the southern wild." young youngest best actress nominee ever. she told us her reaction when she got the good news. >> in the hotel room, half asleep, saw my name just rolling down like this. and on the inside i was excited, and just sitting there, boom!

i hear stuff just speaking about the film, you, me, stuff like that. >> how sweet is she? "beast of the southern wilds" received four oscar nominations in all. one for best picture and one for its director as well. >> a lot of buzz about that movie. >> such a perfect 9-year-old reaction. there is my name scrolling. >> 40 minutes after the hour. turbulence expected for boeing. coming up, reports the faa about to take a long, hard look at the much-hyped dreamliner jet. >> what's the deal with the red dust cloud? hat mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle.

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sois supposed to be the next big thing in air travel, but boeing's 787 dreamliner having trouble getting off the ground. two more mishaps, following three incidents earlier this week with the jumbo jet. adds up to serious safety questions. there are reports that the faa plans a review of the dreamliner. cnn's rene marsh life in

washington. good morning. there are reports that the faa will announce a special review of the dreamliner today. what can we expect from this announcement? >> good morning, john. we know bloomberg news is reporting the faa will indeed announce plans to review the jumbo jet's design and manufacturing of other parts. other reports suggesting the jet's power system will be closely looked at. it will be scrutinized. this days after an election trifall fire in the belly of an empty japanese airliner on the tarmac at logan airport. one of the jet's high-energy lit lithium ion battery exploded. causing heavy smoke. a boeing spokesperson says we are actively working with the faa daily, across all of our product lines. they went on to say, we are absolutely confident in the reliability and performance of

the 787. so this morning -- you mentioned it at the top there, john. we received word of a crack in a cockpit window of a dreamliner. this is not uncommon in passenger jets but yet another incident. and an oil leak discovered on another dreamliner. both al nippon airlines. in case are you counting, that's five incidents in as many days. >> so much anticipation over the 787 for years. this was boeinboeing's plane of future. what do the problems mean right now? >> we're talking about lots of pending orders here. some 800 orders. still have to be delivered to airlines here. it was a very hyped up project. they talked about how comfortable the air cabin would be, the larger overhead

compartments, the larger windows, so there was a lot of hype around this new jetliner, lots of promo videos and then a week like we had today, and let's not forget, there were some issues in the past with engine problems, that sort of thing, not what you want. still, though, boeing is standing by their product. the chief engineer got on a conference call with members of the media, saying he still believes despite these issues that the jet is 100% safe to flori fly. he flies it and categorizes these problems as growing pains for any new jet. we'll see what the faa has to say later on today. >> uncomfortable growing pains for boeing right now. thank you very much. all right. 46 minutes past the hour. these pictures look like something the mars rover would send back, right? take a look at that. that is down under. a huge red wall of dust towered

over the coast of western australia meteorologists say a storm picked up tremendous amounts of sand dust and dust just passed over the land. a cyclone several hundred miles away has been stirring up severe weather in that area. that looks menacing, doesn't it? >> a lot of weather issues down there. closer to home, from 12 inches to rain, to 12 inches of snow, a lot of weather around the country. alexandra steele has more. >> two sides of the coin. east coast warm and wet. and the west coast is cold and will become very snowy, even potentially blizzard conditions developing. first, let's talk about the wet side. an inundation, literally three days, inundation of rain in louisiana, between 6 and 12 inches of rain. that white? that is over 10 inches of rain. in addition to the rain, which for the most part is over, we had three reports of tornadoes yesterday, and ample damage.

a very rough few days. good news for the most part, the worst of this is over. all of the rain moving to the north. you can see just a few showers moving through new orleans, but certainly not that rain and that training rain, with the rain going over the same areas over and over again. cinci, rain for you. why? 60 degrees. should be 20 degrees colder than that. and cleveland to buffalo, you can see, of course, predominantly rain. temperatures 20 degrees above average. washington, d.c., look at this. 66. we'll see the cherry blossoms begin to come out. in atlanta, 70 for the weekend. you get the picture, east is warm, thus we're seeing rain. whole different story out west. 20 degrees below average out west and ice storm warning in minnesota. temperatures that far north, kind of just on the edge. but here is where we'll see it. salt lake city to billings, anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of snow coming in. and there, temperatures well below average. look at this. 18 in salt lake for the weekend. should be almost 40 degrees.

a little bit of everything happening around the country. >> alexandra steele, thank you very much. >> thank you. bye-bye. soledad o'brien will join us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point". >> good morning. the vice president, joe biden, the nra, had the meeting over gun control. how will one of the most powerful lobbying groups in washington, d.c. affect biden's efforts to prevent gun violence? we'll talk this morning to the illinois congresswoman january schikowsky. and we'll talk with the independent firearm owners association and a lot of people think when lance armstrong sits down with oprah, he will confess to doping. does he need to admit to allegations before he can do anything else with his career and his life? we'll speak with the daily beast lauren ashburn and howard kurtz, and kurtz says armstrong is a liar. she shot to fame with tlc.

after she battled back from a brain tumor and cycle sell anemia, she is battling back. >> don't go chasing waterfalls, soledad. >> scrubs. >> thank you, soledad. >> 50 minutes past the hour. chaos in a convenience store. a clerk versus an armed attacker. plus high anxiety. some hikers involved in a hair-raising rescue. tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

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>> look at that beautiful shot. worth coming over to the tv set. gorgeous! >> i knew there was a reason to get this up morning. a beautiful sun rise. >> localities of different views for you. >> 53 minute after the hour here. >> vice president joe biden's gun task force will deliver recommendations to president obama by tuesday. today he meets with representatives of the video game industry. he met with people on the various sides of the issue. the former head of a movie group says movies do not cause violence, and the nra called it

an agenda to attack the second amendment. planned harparenthood goes court in texas to fight for funding. plann planned parenthood hopes to provide state-funded health services to poor women. thief pulls knife, clerk pulls gun. police looking for the guy in the hat who held up a convenience store at knife point, grabbed the gash register, but took off when the clerk took out the gun that she keeps right under the counter. >> i actually feared for my life that night. if i wouldn't have had the gun, i believe i would have been hurt. >> my goodness. the cash went all over, but he did not get away with a dime. >> that's the dude who literally took a knife to a gun fight. right there. caught between a rock and a hard place for real.

two injured hikers stranded in a canyon outside denver. they left the trail during a decent down the motion, and they broke some bones in the process. cell phone pictures helped rescuers find them. 55 minutes past the hour. today's best advice for there a victoria's secret model. the latest on the flu outbreak that has so many of you homesick today. soledad is joined by dr. sanjay gupta. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. just a couple of minutes before the hour. we wrap it up with best advice. >> today we hear from a model who made headlines by telling young girls -- a model -- who told young girls not to follow in her footsteps. >> when i was a young girl, i wanted to be president, and i told everybody that would listen that i wanted to be president. bill clinton was president when i was a kid, and i met him, asked him how to become president? he said meet as many different types of people as you can and stay in school. >> stay in school. >> we met her the other day. she is extraordily